Medical, dental colleges recognition

PMDC recognises four more medical and dental colleges
Islamabad, Jan 27: The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has ordered closure of a private medical college, approved recognition of one dental and three medical colleges, and allowed several others more admissions in various disciplines from the next session, it is learnt.

According to PMDC sources, Abbottabad's Northern Institute of Medical Sciences had requested the council for allowing MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) education to 100 students on its campus annually, but the council's inspectors found the private educational institution unfit for recognition during several visits in view of absence of adequate teaching and clinical facilities.

While observing the college admitted students without securing mandatory PMDC recognition of its MBBS course and in violation of the Supreme Court, the inspectors wanted the college closed without delay. The council, in a recent session in Karachi, went along with the recommendations and ordered immediate closure of the college. It also recommended that the federal government initiate penal action against the college administration.

In the same meeting, the PMDC granted recognition to Lahore's Shalimar Medical and Dental College, Avicenna Medical College and Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nayan Medical College, and Karachi's Ziauddin Dental College on the recommendations of its inspectors and the executive council. In line with the PMDC decision, Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nayan Medical College, Avicenna Medical College and Shalimar Medical and Dental College can now admit 100 students each for MBBS course annually from the next session, while Ziauddin Dental College is free to grant admission to 50 students in BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) programme.

With the inclusion of four more medical and dental colleges, the number of PMDC recognised private medical colleges in the country has increased from 34 to 36, private dental colleges from 18 to 19, and public sector medical colleges from 27 to 28, while the number of public sector dental colleges is nine. This way, 55 nationwide medical and dental colleges are in private sector and 37 in public sector, coming to 92.

According to the PMDC, the public sector medical and dental colleges and universities other than recently recognised ones are as follows: In Punjab, Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore; Army Medical College, Rawalpindi; Fatima Jinnah Medical College for Women, Lahore; King Edward Medical College, Lahore; Nishtar Medical College, Multan; Punjab Medical College, Faisalabad; Quaid-i-Azam Medical College, Bahawalpur; Rawalpindi Medical College, Rawalpindi; Services Institute of Medical Sciences, Lahore; Sargodha Medical College, Sargodha; Shaikh Zayed Medical College, Rahim Yar Khan; de'Montmorency College of Dentistry, Lahore; Dental Section of Nishtar Medical College, Multan, and Dental Section of Army Medical College, Rawalpindi In Sindh, Chandka Medical College, Larkana; Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi; Sindh Medical College, Karachi; Karachi Medical & Dental College, Karachi; Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, Jamshoro; Nawabshah Medical College for Girls, Nawabshah; Dow International Medical College, Karachi; Dental Section of Karachi Medical and Dental College, Karachi; Dental Section of Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, Jamshoro, and Dr Ishratul Ebad Institute of Oral Health Sciences Karachi.

In the North Western Frontier Province (NWFP), Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad; Khyber Medical College, Peshawar; Saidu Medical College, Swat; Gomal Medical College, Dera Ismail Khan; KUST Institute of Medical Sciences, Kohat; Khyber Girls Medical College, Peshawar; dental sections of Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad, and Khyber Medical College, Peshawar.

In Balochistan, Bolan Medical College, Quetta, and Dental Section of Bolan Medical College, Quetta.

As for private medical and dental colleges and universities, they are as follows: In the Punjab: FMH College of Medicine and Dentistry, Lahore; Foundation University Medical College, Rawalpindi; Islamic International Medical College, Rawalpindi; Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore; Shifa College of Medicine, Islamabad; Wah Medical College, Wah Cantt; University Medical College, Faisalabad; University College of Medicine and Dentistry, Lahore; CMH Lahore Medical College, Lahore; Islamabad Medical and Dental College, Islamabad; Independent Medical College, Faisalabad; Sharif Medical and Dental College, Lahore; Continental Medical College, Lahore; Akhtar Saeed Medical and Dental College, Lahore; Central Parks Medical College, Lahore; Dental Section of FMH CM&D, Lahore; Dental Section of Islamic International Medical College, Rawalpindi; Dental Section of Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore; Margalla College of Dentistry, Rawalpindi; Dental Section of UCM&D, Lahore; Sharif Medical and Dental College, Lahore, and Dental Section of University Medical College, Faisalabad.

In NWFP, Frontier Medical College, Abbottabad; Kabir Medical College/GIMS, Peshawar; Women Medical College, Abbottabad; Peshawar Medical College, Peshawar; Abbottabad International Medical College, Abbottabad; Jinnah Medical College, Peshawar, and Sardar Begum Dental College, Peshawar.

In Sindh, the Aga Khan University Medical College, Karachi; Baqai Medical College, Karachi; Isra Medical and Dental College, Hyderabad; Hamdard College of Medicine and Dentistry, Karachi; Jinnah Medical and Dental College, Karachi; Sir Syed College of Medical Sciences for Girls, Karachi; Ziauddin Medical College, Karachi; Muhammad Medical College, Mirpurkhas; Liaquat College of Medicine and Dentistry, Karachi; Liaquat National Medical College, Karachi; Bahria University Medical and Dental College, Karachi; Baqai Dental College, Karachi. Karachi; Fatima Jinnah Dental College, Karachi; Dental Section of Hamdard College of Medicine and Dentistry, Karachi; Dental Section of Jinnah Medical and Dental College; Altamash Institute of Dental Medicine, Karachi, and Dental Section of Liaquat College of Medicine and Dentistry, Karachi.

In Balochistan, there exists no private medical or dental college.

Privately run Mohiuddin Islamic Medical College, Mirpur is the only medical college in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The region is without any public sector medical college, or public or private dental college. The PMDC, in the Karachi meeting, also accepted quite a few medical and dental colleges' requests for more admissions annually on the recommendations of its inspectors.

For next sessions, the number of Army Medical College, Rawalpindi's MBBS seats has been increased from 150 to 200, Jinnah Medical and Dental College, Karachi's BDS seats from 50 to 75, Liaquat College of Medicine and Dentistry, Karachi's BDS seats from 50 to 75, Altamash Institute of Dental Medicine, Karachi's BDS seats from 50 to 80, University College of Dentistry, Lahore's BDS seats from 50 to 75, Baqai Dental College, Karachi's BDS seats from 50 to 75, Isra Medical and Dental College, Hyderabad's BDS seats from 25 to 50, Islamabad Medical and Dental College, Islamabad's MBBS seats from 50 to 100, and Islamic International Dental College, Islamabad's BDS seats from 50 to 75.

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Nine private schools near GHQ face closure
Rawalpindi: The Rawalpindi Association of Private Schools (RAPS) decided here on Tuesday to bring the issue of closure notices to nine private academic institutions near the General Headquarters (GHQ) before Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani for safeguarding the future of children.

The Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) had given the deadline of April 10 to the private schools near the GHQ to close down their campuses otherwise they would be forcibly evicted.

In a hurriedly called meeting of the RAPS, it was decided to bring the matter into the notice of the COAS to save the future of students. All office-bearers, including Rawalpindi Association of Private Schools (RAPS) President Captain (r) Ameer-ud-Din Shaikh, Senior Vice President Nasreen Tariq, Vice President Asia Talha, General Secretary Group Captain (r) Muhammad Asif, Treasurer Humaira Jamil, Secretary Tahmina Malik and Professor Azhar Mehmood attended the meeting.

Meanwhile, RCB Chief Executive Officer Adil Rafiq said that they would close down all private schools in cantonment's residential areas due to several reasons, including security threats. "We cannot afford any school near the GHQ due to the prevailing law and order situation," he said. He said that the RCB enforces orders of higher authorities. "It is a part of policy that schools will not be allowed in residential areas due to security threats, traffic problems and noise pollution," he added.

"Secondly, the majority of private schools do not fulfil legal requirements, as they do not have proper parking spaces, proper playgrounds and proper buildings. Therefore, they cannot be allowed to continue their activities," he added.

Responding to a query, he said that it was not the duty of the RCB to provide alternative places to these academic institutions to establish their schools.

RAPS President Captain (r) Ameer-ud-Din Shaikh said that the RCB management, on behalf of the station commander, had given a deadline to nine schools near the GHQ to close down their campuses till April 10.

"There are 944 private schools in the jurisdictions of Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) and Chaklala Cantonment Board (CCB). I can't understand the logic behind such an order. More than 100,000 students are studying in these schools where more than 20,000 persons are employed," he said.

He said that they were holding talks with the station commander to resolve the matter. If these talks were not fruitful then they would approach Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani to intervene into the matter for the future of children.

RAPS Senior Vice President Nasreen Tariq said that the authorities of cantonment boards should provide alternative places to private schools for shifting their campuses. "We obtained NOCs from the concerned authorities and after that we purchased buildings. It is not possible for us to close down our institutions," she added.

"If the authorities can provide us some space even 10 kilometres from the sensitive area then we are ready to shift our academic institutions," she said. She said that the authorities should order all private schools to get NOCs from them and those who had already obtained them should not be humiliated.

According to data provided by the RAPS, there are around 944 private schools in the jurisdictions of RCB and CCB and the majority of them do not have NOCs. According to the date, there are hardly 100 government schools in the entire district.

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Achievement of matric student
Islamabad: All praise for 17-year-old Naveed Asif, who after getting second position in the Board of Intermediate & Secondary Education (BISE), Lahore, proved that one could achieve the highest targets through hard work and determination despite unfavourable circumstances.

Social connectivity sites, including Facebook, these days are full of pictures and write-ups to honour the achievement of this young boy. The youngsters are writing comments and forwarding the post regarding Naveed.

According to the youth, this young boy from Nahranwali village, Okara is undoubtedly a source of pride for the whole nation and inspiration for the youth. Despite his school being seven kilometres away from his house, which he used to reach on foot every day, Naveed scored 919 marks in Matric in the Humanities group of boys and got second position in BISE Lahore.

According to the reports, on the day of the event organised to honour the position holders, the boy entered the spacious Alhamra Hall, Lahore, unnoticed in his ragged clothes and worn out sandals. It was a function where everyone was dressed up and entered with an utter sense of pride. Probably Naveed didn't know that his achievement was worth a pride. After looking around for a while, he could not find a seat for himself and preferred to sit on the stairs.

Naveed Asif is an orphan and his mother works as a labourer to bear his educational expenses. It was something unbelievable for the two when they were told about Naveed's achievement. "We were really terrified by the door knock late night and it was astonishing to know that the BISE team actually visited my place to inform me about my position. My happiness knew no bounds but my mother's happiness was far greater than mine. It was just like a dream come true," he said. "You may deem it ridiculous but I ever said to my mother that I wanted to be like Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, as I ever considered him my role model," he said.

Naveed had received a huge round of applause as he narrated his circumstances to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif during the ceremony. His inspiring achievement moved the CM to make an announcement of financial assistance for this ambitious student, ordering the Punjab government to transfer Rs3 million in his account, so he could continue his studies.

The achievement of Naveed Asif has been highlighted by the newspapers, TV channels and magazines as well as on websites and several social connectivity sites but it fuelled a heated discussion and raised many questions, such as if a boy living in a village - deprived of the basic facilities and studying in a government school - could bring such laurels, why not the rest of the youth, who are bestowed with all such blessings? Why the rest of the youth does not want to become like Quaid-e-Azam? Why do we not try to get the best of what is available rather criticising the system?

It is still not evident as to what will come out of such discussions but hats off to this young achiever, who made all of us feel proud, as he achieved what he aspired for instead of criticising the system or the circumstances. The news

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